Fancy ordering a fake pizza in Oblivion (or even a real one)? Modding allows you to do that. But it’s not all about hot slices of ‘za delivered by a skeleton. After almost 20 years, people are still looking to tinker with the visuals of the fourth Elder Scrolls game. Just not always in the way you might expect.
Take Nexus Mods user Wilker as a recent example. If you want TES4 to be more styled after the likes of 2002’s The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, look no further. That’s exactly what this mod does, by swapping out Oblivion‘s visuals for cel-shaded graphics (also known as “toon shading”).
While the title refers to it as “Oblivion 64” – suggesting the graphics are on par with the Nintendo 64 era – Wilker says in the description they “prefer the more vibrant style” of cel-shaded games. Hence, the Wind Waker (as well as Pokémon) influence.
I don’t think the Hero of Kvatch goes “hyah!” though
As for what the mod specifically changes, well you’ll find that the pack converts the following:
- The landscape (every external area, like forests, mountains, etc…)
- All the towns
- All dungeons, Ayleid ruins, caves, etc…
- The Oblivion Plane
So it’s pretty much almost everything, except for the NPCs and enemies. That’s fine. It does make the game look a lot brighter, judging by the images.
It’s pretty cool to see people still messing about with the original Oblivion format all these years later. While the mere mention of The Elder Scrolls typically conjures up Skyrim for many, there’s comfort in knowing that the older entries have not been completely lost in this existential modern gaming era.
